Saturday, August 16, 2008

Notes On Design

A summary of The Non-Designers Design Book by Robin Williams. The four basic principles of design are: Proximity, Alignment, Repetition and Contrast – PARC.

Proximity

The purpose of proximity is to organize. Elements that are intellectually connected should be visually connected. Unrelated elements should not be in close proximity. The closeness or lack of closeness indicates the relationship. Equal amounts of whitespace between elements indicate that they are part of a subset.

Alignment

The purpose of alignment is to unify and organize. Every element on a page should have visual alignment with another item on the page. Nothing should be placed on the page arbitrarily. Find a strong line, such as a graphic, and use it.

Repetition

The purpose of repetition is to unify and to add visual interest. Repetition is being consistent. Examples are headlines, list items, page numbering, etc. Repetition can be accomplished with a mere suggestion of a repeated element. It is not necessary to use the whole thing.

Contrast

The purpose of contrast is to create interest. If two items are not exactly the same then make them very different. Contrasted elements can often be used with repetition in the page.